Better Insights, Better Results
Improving your communication skills, including writing, speaking, and presenting.
“You cannot reason people out of a position that they did not reason themselves into.” — Ben Goldacre The Law of Influence is a powerful one. If you need to influence or be persuasive, then you need to know the Law of Influence. The Law of Influence is how people who influence without authority improve …
I’ve noticed some conversations just go a lot easier with some people, but I wasn’t sure why. Recently, a colleague pointed me to an article, Dialogue: The Power of Understanding by Dr. Ann McGee-Cooper. The article has a nice way of framing types of conversations. Some conversations are about exploring ideas, while others are about a winning argument or a winning idea. Once you know the nature of the conversation, you can adapt the conversations, adjust yourself, or avoid it altogether.
Listening is a skill and you can get better with practice. Skilled listening can help you connect with others, learn faster, win friends, and influence people.
The Presenter’s Paradox is that the presenter thinks more information is better. But it’s not. The reader or listener “averages” all the pieces of information, and walks away with a single message.
If you want to be more persuasive, you need to know when to focus on gains and when to focus on losses. People react differently to messages and facts depending on how they are framed. A message can emphasize benefits, "gain-framed", or it can emphasize costs, "loss-framed."
